“One of my instructors, Ann-Marie Heilman, has a rather intense day job. She has to guide children with autism and other special needs in a classroom environment. As you might suspect, her job entails slower lessons, more attention per student, and emotional understanding. But it also comes with random bouts of violence and sporadic launching of bodily fluids.
The real challenge of this job is the bureaucratic freeze placed on teachers and administrators regarding what they can do to defend themselves and control the children. Teachers must essentially cover-up and take beatings handed to them (don’t underestimate the angry violence 11-13 year olds can dish out). Luckily Mrs. H has years of training to guide her in protecting herself while caring for the children and keeping them safe. Other teachers are not so lucky and have been choked, clawed, and hit with blunt objects to the point of unconsciousness.”
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“While I’m on the topic of reflexes, I thought I’d deal with one that I’ve previously alluded to but which I think deserves specific attention, namely the ‘grip reflex’.
“You have seen them, the rows and rows of expensive cardio machines upon which so may people rack up countless hours. Most martial artists are more drawn to the kettlebells or dumbbells then they are to these behemoths. Few of the folks perched on theme look very fit anyway.
“SILENCE STILLNESS can run counter to what the self survival mind demands because it has no survival agendas. In our high tech, hyper adrenaline, life styles we are caught in the ‘need to know’ instant gratification orientation and most will take nothing less as they are ‘online’ with the global communication nets and so linked in people seem to have a hard time truly slowing down their life energies. If we are to awaken our spirits awareness/consciousness, we need to slow down the tendency towards distraction no matter to what level it seems to be pulling our attention. This is where SILENCE STILLNESS can be a powerful ally. Living in the midst of probably the most vivid, distractive culture in many millennium one is being bombarded constantly by the multitude of vibrations running through the air, with all the stations vying for our allegiance of attention.”
“We are our most ardent and intimate critic and that is a good thing. We are the only ones equipped with both the insight, and driving force which can shape our progress and development as humans.
“I find the concept of ‘self-defense’ to be a thread of delusions wrapped around a core of fear and insecurity. Some people conveniently use this term to justify their distorted views of their world which can range wildly on a ‘fight-peace’ spectrum of possible responses to potential threats.
“‘A bit jumpy today aren’t we’ how many times did I hear that.. the usual sarcastic comment directed at me from classmates as a youngster.. having problems at that time with jumping out of my skin at the slightest thing, it was as though my flinch response was out of control, jumping away from anything vaguely threatening my reactions were in overdrive, whether I was just a very jumpy kid I don’t know, but I know it was embarrassing at times and didn’t really know what the cause was.. as time went on I grew slowly out of it, now it only occasionally rears its ugly head, like the times when my wife appears from nowhere right behind me just as I turn around causing a sharp intake of breath on my part followed by a few expletives.. must be those Ninja slippers I bought her last Christmas…”
“When our mind firmly sticks to something, we call that state of mind ‘obsession’. We obsess many times in our daily life.
“Cardiovascular training can be a confusing topic and there are many different and divergent views on the subject. Different reputable sources inform us that you don’t need to do cardio – just spar really long rounds (for grappling), or that you should spar twice as many rounds as you are going to fight (boxing), or that you should do sprints, or do long runs, or lift weights for muscular endurance, etc. With so many ‘experts’, it is no wonder that the answer isn’t cut and dried.
“Last night we spent the bulk of the class applying jiu-jitsu tactics to escaping from common holds: An exhaustive variety of wrist grabs, plus a few chokes.
“A mistake made by many karate-ka and other martial artists is improper pelvis and hip alignment in their front leaning stance. Instead of the pelvis and hips being aligned naturally under the rest of the spine, the hips are pulled backward and out of line by the back leg. The problem is aggravated if the stance is long and low.”
“Today I received an email regarding sporting participants who get concussions. Attached was a ‘New York Times’ online article regarding this problem. This email was about the lack of reporting the seriousness of the injuries by the injured players. These were the star players who thought they would be sidelined if they showed the symptoms and likelihood of a concussion thereby letting their team down.